Deering Honoured By Games Industry

Friday 2 December 2005/... Chris Deering, president of Sony Europe, has been honoured for his services to the UK computer and video games industry. Deering was inducted into the ELSPA Hall of Fame at the InDin, the computer and video games industry's annual dinner, in central London last night.

The Hall of Fame, created by ELSPA, the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, celebrates the achievement of the UK games industry's pioneers and honours those who have helped put the UK games industry on the global map.

"Few people can claim to have achieved the commercial success of this man," said ELSPA Director General Roger Bennett. "Even fewer can claim to have done it with such humility and openness. He has led the games industry for over 10 years, making PlayStation one of the major entertainment brands for literally millions of consumers - there are now some 77 million PlayStations and PS2s in homes all across Europe."

About Chris Deering

Deering graduated from Boston College, Massachusetts, with a degree in Computer Science before moving on to gain an MBA in Marketing from Harvard Business School. He began his career as Product Manager at Gillette and then moved to McKinsey & Co in New York City. Upon returning to Gillette, he soon became head of the European Marketing Group in 1979. Three years later, he gained his first experience of the video and computer games industry when he became Vice President of International Marketing at Atari, responsible for a range of hardware and software products including VCS and personal computers.

In 1985, Deering took his ever-widening expertise to the film industry. He joined Columbia Pictures International Video Division as Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing for five years, then switched to Columbia Tristar International Video where, as Executive Vice President and COO, he took charge of video distribution across 35 countries. During this time, Columbia was absorbed into the Sony family as Sony Pictures.

With the launch of PlayStation in Europe in 1995, Deering returned to the gaming industry as President of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE). In this role he masterminded the creation of a powerful brand identity by launching and building the consumer market for the two most successful games consoles in the history of gaming. To date, PSone has sold a staggering 40 million units in PAL territories and boasts an installed base of 37 million PlayStation 2s. In his time at Sony, Deering has also extended SCEE's reach to 104 territories worldwide, the result of which means that over one in five Western European households now owns a PlayStation.

Deering is the fourth inductee into the ELSPA Hall of Fame. Previous inductees are Toby Gard (designer of the original Lara Croft), the Darling family (Codemasters), and David Ward and Jon Woods (Ocean Software).

EDITORS NOTES

Note: Picture of Awards Ceremony to follow later today.

About ELSPA - http://www.elspa.com

ELSPA (The Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) was founded in 1989 to establish a specific and collective identity for the computer and video games industry. Membership includes almost all companies concerned with the publishing and distribution of interactive leisure software in the UK.

For further information on ELSPA, please contact:

EMMA COWIE / DEBI COSTER

BARRINGTON HARVEY

Tel: 01462 456780

Fax: 01462 456781

Email: emma.cowie@bhpr.co.uk / debi.coster@bhpr.co.uk

Issued by: Barrington Harvey, Trooper's Yard, Bancroft, Hitchin SG5 1JW